Virginia Glee Club Fossils

The Fossils of the Virginia Glee Club are men who are united by common memories and shared loves: of music, of Virginia, of beer. 🙂 Eventually as I find more pictures each of these guys deserves at least a page to him or herself, but for right now a summary will have to do.

John Vick is one of the funniest human beings I’ve ever known. He roomed with me for almost a year before we had to move out of our townhouse, and I have fond memories of bellowing the “Three Tenors” version of “Three Coins in a Fountain” with him in our kitchen…much to the annoyance of our housemates… A cunning linguist, Vick is fluent in French and has taught both French and music in prep schools. He’s now somewhere in Arizona making his living in music—check out his new band, Hello Swindon, whose new album will be out soon!

Craig Fennell is a true Renaissance man and a gentleman. I had the good fortune to be serving as the Glee Club’s vice president in the fall of 1992 when Craig auditioned for the group, having just come to the masters program in landscape architecture at Virginia, fresh from Rutgers. We all said, “Well, if he’s serious about the music, he’ll be a great addition to the group…” Little did we know… Six years later, he’s still singing in the group, and has also served in various capacities, not least of which as interim director! Craig, like myself, is a Mac aficionado; in this he is unlike the rest of the people in this photograph.

Larry Muelleris an amazing man. My wife Lisa likes to say he is one of the few people our age who can actually practice the art of conversation. By his example, Larry helped inspire me to push myself in my role as Glee Club Vice President to do the best that I could; in the process, I learned a lot about leadership, graphic design, and the culinary arts that I’m still using today. Larry is the most hospitable person I know, and has long lent his gracious assistance to many fossils returning to Charlottesville. After graduating a while back from Darden, he’s still making his home in the area, now as the director of financial aid for Darden.

Eric Rothwell is another former roommate. A native of Covington, Virginia, Eric was my co-worker at AMS and is married to the lovely Deena Stinespring.

Don Webbwas my best man at my wedding, and at many other points in my life. I first met Don when we were at Boys State (singing together in the Boys Statesmen of Note—I have a photo to that effect somewhere but have misplaced it). Then I bumped into him a year and a half later at UVA. Eventually we became close friends, even neighbors on The Lawn (never, despite our best efforts, did we actually move into the space above the Court Square Tavern in Charlottesville, but it was a near thing) our last year at UVA. Don is now making his home in Greensboro, NC, where he’s in law enforcement. He did us a favor, though, and didn’t pack any heat when he served as my best man. For which I shall forever be grateful.

Jon Finnis another long-term friend. He served as Business Manager of Club when I was secretary and Don was president. Later I was fortunate to be able to run into him several times when I was doing business with the Navy in Norfolk, where he’s employed in an investment brokering firm. Jon used to be a terror behind the wheel of his huge Cherokee (or his folks’ Suburban); as of about a year ago, his driving is still capable of draining all the blood out of my face when I’m in his passenger seat. He also plays a mean guitar.

Jim Heaney, also known as Shameless O’Heaney for reasons that shall remain unrecorded until the participants are all dead, is another in the Larry Mueller mold, though he doesn’t know it. Amazingly personable (I think that Jim, like Shel, could make friends with a tree stump) and an amazing cook, Jim is also a former Glee Club president; I had the honor of serving as his vice president. There are many stories that can be told. —Jim was also a former housemate; I shared a townhouse with him and various other people almost from the time I moved to Northern VA until I got married. Jim’s through-hike of the Appalachian Trail in the summer of 2003 is documented through his emails from the trial, published on this site as the Mothman Chronicles.